As Louis van Gaal remains under intense pressure at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho was spotted out and about in London over the weekend

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho stops by the ATM while out and about in London

"Bringing in Jose Mourinho? That is absolutely not the answer," Parker wrote in his Eurosportcolumn.

"Mourinho's history in the game tells you all you need to know: he's a man who needs control, and who flounders in situations when he has lost it.

"And that's what happened at Chelsea: with the squad getting away from him, he was unable to turn it round.

"So to suggest that he could walk in to a crisis situation at United and turn it around is absurd. That's something he's never done in his career, and this really wouldn't be the time to start.

"He's lost a huge amount of respect in the game, and I suspect the players at United hate the idea of him taking over.

"Frankly, given how unhappy the players are right now, they'd be better off bringing in Tim Sherwood between now and the end of the season: someone to soft soap the players, given them a bit of a cuddle, get them feeling good about themselves once again.

"Sadly, as we've seen with Tim, those sorts of managers don't work long term. And United need to start thinking about the long term as soon as possible, because if not they face the ultimate danger: turning into the new Liverpool."